WB_032218

wilmettebeacon.com dining out
the wilmette beacon | March 22, 2018 | 41
Updated Max’s Deli menu boasts fresh, healthy options
Megan Bernard
Contributing Editor
Max’s Deli has been a
long-standing establishment
in the North Shore
for more than 25 years.
To be successful for more
years to come, its owner is
revamping the menu with
more health-conscious and
fresh dishes for the future.
Joey Morelli, a trained
chef, and his brother
opened up Joey’s Brickhouse
in Chicago in 2004.
After a seven-year run,
they were ready to take
over their grandfather Bernie
Katz’s business, Max’s
Deli at 191 Skokie Valley
Road in Highland Park.
At first, like the saying
goes, if it wasn’t broke,
they didn’t fix it — so
nothing changed menuwise
at the restaurant.
They did, however, eventually
add a full-service
bakery, so Max’s produces
cupcakes, cookies, pies,
bagels, bailies, among
other baked goods, just
behind the counter made
fresh for customers.
When 22nd Century
Media visited last in 2015,
the deli owners said they
were open to new ideas
and responsive to community
preferences. For
example, we reported that
Max’s rolled out a blueberry
cream cheese that
they said was perfectly
delicious, but the community
didn’t take to it. Later,
the cooks concocted
a jalapeno cream cheese
and it was then one of the
top sellers.
Now, Morelli is ready to
make some more changes
to better the restaurant and
keep up with the times.
Morelli inspires to
turn his “old-school Jewish
deli” into a “fun and
hip” eatery to welcome a
younger crowd and more
families, slightly changing
The egg-in-the-hole bagel at Max’s Deli in Highland Park features a sunny-side up
egg surrounded by a fresh bagel in a flavor of your choosing. Photos By Jacqueline
Glosniak/22nd Century Media
the dynamic from the older
clientele.
“It’s been a process.
There is nothing fun and
hip about Max’s Deli because
it’s been here for
more than 25 years, but to
evolve to the next level,
we are going to have to
reinvent ourselves or we’ll
die,” Morelli said.
The reinvention began
about eight months
ago, Morelli said, when
he switched over the restaurant’s
chicken fingers
on its children’s menu
by trading the “mystery
meat” with tenders from
Harrison’s Chicken, coating
them in extra fine flour
and frying them in clean
canola oil.
“But the kids wanted the
same chicken because they
were so used to it so I had
some backlash,” he said. “I
hesitated and got scared. A
couple months later, I talked
to enough customers
and just said ‘Screw it. If
someone wants to get mad
at me for this then they
will have to just be mad.’”
Max’s Deli
191 Skokie Valley
Road, Highland Park
(847) 831-0600
www.maxs-deli.com
Open 7 a.m.-8:30 p.m.
daily
The revamping spread
to other parts of the deli’s
menu, including the mac
’n’ cheese, which previously
was shipped to the
store with a pre-made
cheese pouch. Now, Morelli
makes the dish homemade
with his own cheese
sauce (quality American
cheese, milk and butter)
and boiled noodles then
melts it all together.
Other new items include:
chicken and waffles,
an egg-in-the-hole bagel, a
turkey burger made from
the scraps of turkey they
roast in-house and a veggie
burger made with 12
different vegetables.
“Our burgers are no longer
brown discs of something,”
Morelli said. “They
are made fresh in our
kitchen with fresh ingredients.
They are on homemade
kaiser rolls, too, that
we bake right here.”
There are now also
gluten-free options, like
bagels, wraps and matzo
crackers. And, there’s a
new crowd-pleaser: makeyour-own
omelets.
When 22nd Century
Media visited again last
week, we sampled some
of Max’s new dishes and
were pleasantly surprised.
The fresh ingredients stood
out and provided flavor to
what could be a bland dish
elsewhere.
We started with the eggin-the-hole
bagel, which
was served sunny-side
up, and a sesame bagel
with lox and chive cream
cheese. The portions were
generous and the bagels
and trimmings were extremely
fresh.
The mac ‘n’ cheese was
next and instantly became
one of our favorites. While
there are so many varieties
of this dish, Max’s nailed
it with its homemade take
Mac ‘n’ cheese at Max’s Deli is a classic homemade
serving of elbow macaroni noodles in a warm and
gooey homemade American cheese sauce.
Chicken tenders at the restaurant are now made with
fresh, all-white meat instead of frozen, GMO chicken
products.
with the creamy, homemade
cheese sauce you’d have as
a side at Thanksgiving.
Another cherished dish
was the grilled cheese
and tomato basil soup,
which replaced canned
Campbell’s tomato soup
in Max’s kitchen, Morelli
said. Any consumer would
be able to tell the sandwich
and soup was thoughtfully
prepared and made inhouse
that day.
We also tried the “controversial”
chicken tenders
and fries, and we
preferred them with the
current fresh, white meat
instead of previous “the
sponge meat,” as Morelli
described it.
Looking forward, along
with the reinvention, Morelli
plans to host a milkshake
bar in the summer
for families and children.
The deli’s ice cream is
supplied by Homer’s Ice
Cream in Wilmette.
“It used to be chemically-enhanced
ice cream,”
Morelli said. “Now we get
natural, local ice cream
from Homer’s and I believe
that’s the future of
this place.
“It’s a battle I still
haven’t figured out. For
me, it’s all about a healthy
and homemade menu so I
hope it works.”